Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c16.s1.5

c16.s1.5

The Mauryas had done much for Indian unity by bringing the greater part of the country under "one umbrella," by defending it against the generals of Alexander and Seleukos, by establishing a uniform system of administration, by using Prākṛit for official purposes throughout the length and breadth of the empire and attempting to knit together the different sections of its composite population by the strong tie of a common *Dharma*. With the fall of the dynasty Indian history for the time being loses its unity. The command of one single political authority is no longer obeyed from the snowy heights of the Hindukush to the verdant plains of Bengal and the Upper Carnatic. Hordes of outlanders pour through the north-western gates of the country and establish aggressive monarchies in Gandhāra, Western Mālwa and neighbouring regions. The Pañjāb is seized by foreigners and the Deccan by local dynasts. The political connection of the *Madhya-deśa* with the valleys of the Indus and the Godāvarī is temporarily snapped, and the splendour of the Magadhan metropolis is dimmed by the rising glory of Sākala, Vidiśā, Pratishṭhāna and other cities. Brāhmaṇism gains ground in the Ganges valley and the Deccan, while Jainism flourishes in Orissa. The sects of the *Māheśvaras* and the *Bhāgavatas* become powers to reckon with. The study of Sanskrit receives an impetus at the hands of the grammarians of the Madhyadeśa, while Prākṛit literature enjoys the patronage of the courts of Pratishṭhāna and Kuntala in Southern India.